by my standards | Horse Racing Free Tips

By My Standards Exits Whitney In Good Order, May Target Gold Cup Next

Trainer Bret Calhoun said he experienced “the highs and lows of racing in a matter of ten minutes” after seeing Mr. Wireless capture a second graded stakes triumph in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Racetrack in New Cumberland, W. Va., before saddling By My Standards to a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Second in last year's Whitney to Improbable, Allied Racing and Spendthrift Farm's By My Standards stumbled and lost a front left shoe a few strides leaving the gate. Unable to catch pacesetter and winner Knicks Go, By My Standards trailed throughout finishing 15 ½ lengths off the winner.

Calhoun said By My Standards, a 5-year-old son of Goldencents, emerged from the race in good order.

“For what he went through, he came back pretty well, better than expected,” Calhoun said. “He stumbled twice and wasn't going to do too well without a shoe. The foot is a little sore and we got lucky it didn't tear anything up. He's just a little bruised up is all.”

A four-time graded stakes-winning millionaire, By My Standards arrived at the Whitney off a runner-up effort despite a troubled trip in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 5 at Belmont Park.

Calhoun said By My Standards could target the $1 million Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 4 at Saratoga.

“The Whitney was a race we had dialed in for quite some time,” Calhoun said. “Obviously, you don't know what to take from that race other than just drawing a line through it. We'll figure out where we go. I wouldn't think the Jockey Club is impossible. Knicks Go ran them off their feet, went fast early, and he kept on running. He just ran that race he ran in the Breeders' Cup.”

Mr. Wireless notched a second graded stakes triumph in the West Virginia Derby after winning the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on July 7 at Indiana Grand Race Course in Shelbyville, Ind.

Calhoun said the JIL Stable-owned son of Dialed In could return in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on September 25 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.

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Walsh Prepares Four For Kentucky Downs Previews At Ellis Park

Trainer Brendan Walsh hopes to use the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Sprint as a stepping stone to competing in the compact meet at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky. Born Great proved last year that he relished that undulating surface by winning not once, but twice. Though not unprecedented, it is rare for horses to race more than once at Kentucky Downs' short all-turf meet. Born Great did so with great success, knocking out a maiden victory that he followed with an allowance score a week later.

Born Great in his last start finished second by a neck in a Churchill Downs turf sprint won by graded-stakes winner Angaston.

“He's doing great,” Walsh said. “We'll see how it goes, but hopefully it will set him up good for Kentucky Downs. He really liked it there last year. He might be as good this year as last, if not better. He ran a really good race at the end of the Churchill spring meet and was very unlucky. Five-and-a-half (furlongs) is probably as short as he would want. But the 6 1/2 at Kentucky Downs set him really well last year.

“But this is a tough race. There are two or three really nice horses in there. It's a good race.”

Walsh also has Ethical Judgement in Saturday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby, Amazima in Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint, and the 4-year-old filly Family Way taking on the boys in the $125,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Cup.

Ethical Judgement gets back to turf for the first time since he was second in his first race. He ran well in three starts rained off the turf before finishing fifth in the Ohio Derby at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, the same distance as the Preview Dueling Grounds Derby.

“He seems to be good on the dirt as well,” Walsh said. “But he's another one we'd like to try him back on the grass. And if that worked well, maybe he'd be a horse for the Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs.”

Amazima did not run well over Arlington Park's Polytrack in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes. But before that, she was a good third in a turf sprint after shortening up in distance.

Family Way ran seventh in Arlington's Grade 3 Modesty at 1 3/16 miles on turf after having a win and a second in two allowance starts since arriving from France.

“Why not?” the Irish-born Walsh said of taking on males. “In Europe, we do it all the time. The distance is what I really like about it. The mile and a quarter would really hit her right between the eyes. There isn't a whole lot around that distance.”

Walsh is a big fan of Ellis' Kentucky Downs Preview series.

“We've got a barn at Ellis, so we don't have to go too far to run,” he said. “They're nice prep races for Kentucky Downs.”

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Walsh will saddle the 4-year-old Maxfield in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Maxfield, who is 4, never ran at Ellis Park but spent all summer of his 2-year-old season training at the Pea Patch before launching his career at Churchill Downs. The Whitney's field of five is composed of all Kentucky-based horses, including Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go and By My Standards, owned by Chester Thomas of Madisonville. The 5-year-old Knicks Go broke his maiden at Ellis Park and finished second the next year in the Ellis Park Derby.

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Equibase Analysis: By My Standards Poised To Run Down Knicks Go

The number seven is rampant in the 2021 edition of the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes, as each of the five entrants possesses seven career victories. Combined, the field has won 35 of 70 races for more than $12 million career earnings. Leading the group is Knicks Go, who has made a career of taking the lead at the start and running his competitors off their feet while coasting home in front in the final eighth of a mile. Using his early speed, Knicks Go has won five of his last six North American starts, most recently the Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap at the distance of the Whitney.

Next in accomplishments is the filly Swiss Skydiver, winner of the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes against males last fall and winner of the Grade 1 Beholder Mile earlier this year. Maxfield has only been defeated one time in eight career starts and enters the Whitney off strong victories in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes and in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster Stakes, also at the distance of this race. Silver State has also won two graded stakes in a row starting with the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in April at this nine-furlong trip, followed up by a win in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in June. Last but certainly not least in this strong quintet is By My Standards¸ runner-up in the 2020 Whitney and winner of the Oaklawn Mile Stakes in April before a runner-up effort in the Metropolitan Handicap.

Owing to the heavy favoritism Knicks Go will receive from bettors, I'm going to opt for By My Standards to post the upset in this year's Whitney Stakes. Winner of the 2019 Louisiana Derby and well-regarded in the Kentucky Derby that year, By My Standards had little chance in the Derby after getting squeezed back at the start and losing position. Sitting out the balance of 2019, By My Standards returned as a 4-year-old last year and won three races in a row including both the New Orleans Classic Stakes and Oaklawn Handicap before a big runner-up effort behind Tom's d'Etat in the 2020 Stephen Foster Stakes. Next came a career best effort with a 113 Equibase Speed Figure when second behind Improbable in the 2020 Whitney. He ran poorly last fall in two races but just as he did to start 2020, By My Standards started 2021 with a bang, first winning the Oaklawn Mile in April before a runner-up effort in the Metropolitan Handicap (Met Mile) in June. Although second in the Met Mile, By My Standards may have been best as he brushed the gate at the start, was soundly bumped back to last of six and was wide on the turn. Nevertheless, By My Standards rallied and was beaten just one length at the finish by Silver State. Now having finished first or second in five of six career starts at this mile and one-eighth distance, with a clean break By My Standards can post the upset win in this year's Whitney by running as well as he did in last year's edition of the race.

That being said, By My Standards must run down Knicks Go in the stretch to win. There's a saying in racing that “speed is the ultimate bias,” and with Knicks Go that is a fact. Brilliant as a 2-year-old when winning the Breeders' Futurity in the fall of 2019, Knicks Go went off form but got his brilliant speed back after moving to the barn of Brad Cox over the winter of 2020. Reeling off three wins in a row including the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last fall, Knicks Go won the Pegasus World Cup Invitational this past January with a strong 115 figure just one point shy of the career best 116 figure earned three months earlier. Following uncharacteristically poor fourth-place finishes in the Saudi Cup and Metropolitan Mile, Knicks Go showed all his speed, and talent, winning the Cornhusker Handicap last month at the distance of the Whitney and could prove impossible to catch once again.

Maxfield has been nearly perfect in his career, winning seven of eight races. His only loss came when trying 1 1/4 miles in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, perhaps just a bit farther than he wants to run. In his only try at the nine-furlong distance of the Whitney¸ Maxfield easily won the Stephen Foster Stakes in his most recent start near the end of June, earning a 107 figure. Perhaps he didn't have to run any faster, because two months earlier when winning the Alysheba Stakes, Maxfield earned a career-best 115 figure which stands up as nearly the same as the best figures of the top contenders in this field. It must also be noted that jockey Jose Ortiz is a perfect five-for-five when riding Maxfield, compared to four-for-five for Joel Rosario (Knicks Go) and seven-for-14 for Gabriel Saez (By My Standards).

In terms of probability, both Silver State and the filly Swiss Skydiver can't be ruled out. Silver State earned a 113 figure winning the Oaklawn Handicap in April at the distance of the Whitney before a game victory in the Metropolitan Handicap, while Swiss Skydiver already proved capable of beating males in last year's Preakness (111 figure) and won the Beholder Mile in March off a layoff similar to the one she's coming off today. Notably, North American leading jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides Swiss Skydiver for the first time and the jockey is in a pitched battle with his brother Jose for the coveted Saratoga riding title, with the brothers having won 24 races each through Wednesday and one behind leading jockey Luis Saez.

Win Contenders, in preference order:
By My Standards
Knicks Go
Maxfield

Whitney Stakes – Grade 1
Race 10 at Saratoga
Saturday, August 7 – Post Time 5:48 PM E.T.
One Mile and One Eighth
4-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $1 Million

Ellis Starr is national racing analyst for Equibase

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Fantastic Five For Whitney

A compact, but talented field of five will face the starter for Saturday's GI Whitney S., a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6.

Korean Racing Authority's Knicks Go (Paynter) has been pegged as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Joel Rosario. The 5-year-old is perfect in his last five starts around two turns, including a latest blow-out, big-figure success in the GIII Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows July 2. Cox attributes his losses in the Saudi Cup in February and in the GI Met Mile to a one-turn route configuration

“There was no hangover with him [out of the Saudi Cup] with how he was training, but back of my mind that one turn isn't his thing,” Cox told NYRA's Andy Serling after Knicks Go drew gate four, before telegraphing an unsurprising race strategy.

“Once the gate opens, it's up to Joel. Speed is his weapon and we'll try to utilize it,” Cox said.

Cox won last weekend's GII Jim Dandy S. for Godolphin with champion Essential Quality (Tapit), and Maxfield (Street Sense) will look to keep the ball rolling for the 'boys in blue.' Defeated into third in the GI Santa Anita H. in March, the homebred has since rolled to easy victories in the GII Alysheba S. and GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs. The 8-5 morning-line second choice departs the five hole with regular rider Jose Ortiz.

“He like the rest of us has enjoyed the weather. He's had a great preparation and he's ready to go,” Godolphin USA President Jimmy Bell said post-draw.

Silver State (Hard Spun) carries an imposing six-race winning streak into the Whitney, capped by a one-length defeat of the re-opposing By My Standards (Goldencents) in the Met June 5. Ricardo Santana, Jr. rides the 4-1 chance from the two hole, while By My Standards, runner-up to Improbable (City Zip) last year, has regular partner Gabriel Saez in gate one.

Swiss Skydiver (Dardevil) has already beaten the boys once in her career, taking down the colors of eventual Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief) in last year's GI Preakness S. She will look to join the likes of Personal Ensign and Lady's Secret as female winners of the Whitney.

“The way the ball bounced, we really wanted to get her back into the game,” said trainer Ken McPeek, whose barn has only recently emerged from quarantine. “She's doing super. We're excited, she's won here before and it's going to be a fun weekend. We try to get her in a nice rhythm out there and let her make a run.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has the call on the 6-1 gamble from post position three.

Saturday, Saratoga

WHITNEY S.-GI, $1,000,000, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m

1 By My Standards (Goldencents), Calhoun, G Saez, 10-1

2 Silver State (Hard Spun), Asmussen, Santana Jr, 4-1

3 Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), McPeek, Ortiz Jr, 6-1

4 Knicks Go (Paynter), Cox, Rosario, 6-5

5 Maxfield (Street Sense), Walsh, Ortiz, 8-5

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